K.B. McFarlane

1938 letter from K.B. McFarlane to Helena Wright, with his first impressions of A.J.P. Taylor

McFarlane and Wright had a close relationship and he often stayed with her family at their home in Aylesbury. In this letter, he discusses the new History tutor, A.J.P. Taylor, and his wish to live outside of College, referring to the situation as a “crisis.” This reaction may sound rather melodramatic, but McFarlane was correct about the College statutes requiring new Tutors to reside in College (see Statutes below) and he foresaw the difficulties Taylor and his wife would have settling in Oxford (see our section on A.J.P. Taylor’s home life).

Statutes of Magdalen College from 1938

Prior to A.J.P. Taylor’s appointment as a Fellow of Magdalen College, McFarlane warned him that he would have to reside in College. Taylor was adamant that he would not do so, preferring to live in the countryside. In his memoir, A Personal History, Taylor claimed that McFarlane misled him; that he later realised it had ‘no statutory foundation.’† Here we can see that McFarlane was correct, at least partly. For the first 3 years of their appointment a ‘Dean, Tutor, or Lecturer, shall reside and pernoctate in College during full term.’††

†Taylor, A. J. P. (Alan John Percivale). A Personal History. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1983. Print, p. 130.

†† ‘Statute 21’ in Statutes made for Magdalen College, Oxford, by the University of Oxford Commissioners and by the College, 1938. Magdalen College Archives, MC 703-9 (d)

1944 letter from K.B. McFarlane to Helena Wright in which we get a glimpse into College politics

Six years have elapsed since Taylor’s arrival and, from this letter it is clear that McFarlane is unhappy with the influence Taylor has over College affairs. Two years ago, McFarlane had missed out on the role of President to Henry Tizard (a former Magdalen undergraduate, who came from his role as Rector at Imperial College London). Here he suggests that it is really Taylor who is in charge, pulling the ‘strings of the Tizard puppet’ and that there is a division between College members; those in ‘the Taylor Party’ and those outside of it. Further on in the letter, he considers the prospect of leaving Magdalen, for a position at the University of Manchester. He never made the move. If he had, it would have been somewhat ironic; Manchester was where Taylor had worked, before moving to Magdalen.

Notes made by K.B. McFarlane when reading Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

McFarlane applied his meticulous nature to other aspects of his life, beyond his work as a historian. Here we can see him trying to work out ‘whodunnit.’ Sadly, his suspicions of Tim Allerton were ill-founded and, on this occasion, McFarlane got something wrong!

A.J.P. Taylor was a big fan of Agatha Christie. Her detective stories are named throughout his Volume of Books Read and Death on the Nile is listed, too (in September 1949). Perhaps the two men discussed the work over a drink of port in the Senior Common Room!